Buckle



(No Model.)

A. M. ZIEGLER.

BUCKLE.

No. 555,277. Patented Feb. 25, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED M. ZIEGLER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 555,277, dated February 25, 1896.

Application filed July 1,1895 Serial No. 554,603. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it know that I, ALFRED M. ZIEGLER, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Buckles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawin gs, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention for buckles for suspenders and the like has reference to a buckle of that type wherein the strap is drawn across and by the tension or pull on the strap held locked against or upon the usually serrated edge of a fulcrumed locking member, as distinguished from buckles of the class wherein the strap is clamped between a fulcrumed clamping member and a fixed surface or abutment and in which the strap is held loosely by the pressure of the clamping member acting against and in opposition to said fixed surface or abutment.

My invention is particularly adapted for what is known as a slide-buckle, used to maintain a loop in a strap, for by connecting the end of the looped strap with the buckle the pull on the loop is divided between the buckle and the shoulder portion of the strap, thereby lessening the stress upon the buckle, which enables me to make the buckle lighter in construction. By thus red ucingthe stress or pull upon the buckle I render the looking more secure, and at the same time reduce the lacera tion or wear of the strap, due to the engagement of the serrated edge of the locking member therewith.

In the drawings, Figure 1, in front elevation, shows a looped strap provided with a slide-buckle embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the buckle shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged sectional view of Fig. 1 on the dotted line m; Fig. 4, a face view of a modified construction of buckle embodying my invention, and Fig. an enlarged cross-sectional detail of the same.

In the drawings which illustrate the best embodiment of my invention now known to me, the buckle, Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, comprises a frame A and a fulcrumed locking member 13. The frame, as shown, consists in three substantially parallel bars a, a, and a jointed at their ends by the end bars or connections 0 so as to form one rigid construction. The locking member 13 is shown as and preferably is U-shaped in cross-section, (see Fig. 3,) it being fulcrumed upon the middle frame-bar a, and having one of its legs or members I) bent into angular shape, as shown in Fig. 3, and serrated at its edge I), and having its other leg or member 6 constructed to serve as a stop to limit the lockin g movement of the said member, and it may be provided with a slot bithrough which the end of a strap may be passed for a purpose to be described.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the serrated edge of the leg b of the locking member slides past-'2 6., inside-though close to the inner edge of one of the bars, as a of the frame. The strap 3 is carried past and at the same sides of the frame-bars a a and between the latter and the locking member B, said locking member and bars connecting upon opposite sides of said strap. To release the strap, the locking member is turned into its dotted position, Fig. 3, leaving the strap free to be drawn through the buckle. To look the strap against movement, the locking member is turned into its full-line position, Fig. 3,

until stopped by contact of the stop-leg 5 in the present instance with the strap, such movement of the locking member causing its serrated edge 11' to be carried past and inside of the frame-bar a pressing the strap into the form shown and securely looking it in position, the pull or stress upon the strap tending to straighten it between the frame-bars a a drawing the strap at the point 5 upon the serrated edge of the locking member and with a force acting in a direct line upon the said serrated edge on the fulcrum of the looking member or in a line running to the left of said fulcrum, so that the harder the pull upon the strap the tighter it will be drawn upon the serrated edge of the locking member and the more firmly it will hold the latter in its full-line or looking position, Fig. 3.

The angular bending of the locking member permits the same to spring slightly under strains, and also allows of the locking edge being brought closer to the lower or adjacent bar of the frame than the thickness of the strap, as it is shown in Fig. 3, so that when turned from its dotted-line position to its fullline or locked position the edge I) is sprung back and up sufliciently to slide over the bar a and then swing down into normal locking position. I Thus the strap may be caused to present two acute angles over the adjacent edges of the locking member and bar.

In using this buckle as a slide-buckle I pass the strap through the buckle, as described, and turn back or loop the end, securing the latter to some part of the buckle, preferably to the leg I) of the locking member, by passing the end of the strap through the slot b as shown in Fig. 3.

\Vhen the strap is looped, as described, and the pull exerted upon the loop, when the said loop forms part of a suspender with the button strap or cord connected to the cast-off c, the pull is taken equally by the two strands of the loop, so that the pull is divided equally between the shoulder-strap s and the buckle A. In my invention, however, by dividing the pull so that a part only is received by the buckle the locking of the latter at the strap is rendered more secure and less liable to accidental slip. By dividing the pull, as described, I also reduce the pressure with which the strap is pressed upon the serrated edge of the locking member, thereby reducing the tearing or laceration of the strap by said serrated edge.

The pull on the strap 3 where it passes through the buckle is in the direction of arrow (3, while the pull upon the looped end on the buckle is in the direction of arrow '7, Fig. 3, these two pulls acting in opposition to each other tending to securely lock the strap in its adjusted position.

My invention enables the buckle to be made thinner than has heretofore been considered possible, making it very desirable for suspenders and the like.

In the modified buckle, Figs. a and 5, the frame F, comprising the three connected bars f, f, and f, is substantially the same in construction as the frame A, Figs. 1 to 3; but in Figs. 4c and 5 the lower bar f is made of sufficient width to enable it to be slotted, as at f, so that the end of the looped strap may be connected directly with the buckle-frame instead of with the locking member f*, as in Figs. 1 to 3, the operation of the loop being substantially as in the construction first described, except that the pull upon the buckle is exerted through its frame direct, instead of through the locking member and then through the frame.

My invention is not limited to the particular shape or construction herein shown, nor is it limited to any particular use, it being adapted for any sort of buckle, whether used for slides, cast-offs, or any other purpose.

Having described my invention and without limiting myself as to details, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a buckle, a frame comprising connected parallel bars, combined with a locking member fulcrumed upon said frame between said bars, and its locking portion having a swinging movement past one of said bars, said portion being bent back angularlybetween its fulcrum and extremity or locking edge, so as to present said locking portion with its edge obliquely to said frame and with its edge and fulcrum parts in a plane substantially parallel to said frame, substantially as described.

2. In a buckle, a frame comprising parallel bars, at one side of which the strap is passed, and a locking member fulcrumed on said frame to act upon the opposite side of said strap and between said bars, said locking member having a swinging movement past the lower of said bars, and being bent back angularly so as to present its locking edge obliquely to said frame and in a plane with the overhanging fulcrum end of said angular bend substantially parallel with said frame, said locking edge being arranged to swing closely adjacent to said lower bar, all combined to cause said'strap when in locked position to pass over and beyond said lower bar approximately at a right or slightly-acute angle to its general direction and thence over said locking edge and fulcrum in a direction substantially parallel to said general direction, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED M. ZIEGLER. lVitnesses FREDERICK L. EMERY, AUGUSTA E. DEAN. 

